CSPAN - VP Vance Delivers Remarks at CPAC

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Feb. 20, 2025 20:27-21:10 - CSPAN

42:56

VP Vance Delivers Remarks at CPAC

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jd vance

admin 25:19

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matt schlapp

03:51

mercedes schlapp

00:42

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victor willis

00:17

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered.
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		Vice President JD Vance said that uncontrolled immigration is the greatest threat to both Europe and the United States.
		He made those remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference being held at Maryland's National Harbor.
		This is about 45 minutes.
		Gentlemen, and welcome to CPAC 2025.
		America is back on track.
		Please welcome CPAC Senior Fellow, Mercedes Schlapp, and CPAC Chairman, Matt Schlapp.
		Pretty cool.
		There must be someone real special about to get on stage, right, Matt?
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		We have some seats open here.
		Let's go pack it in, folks.
		We've got some red seats open.
unidentified		They're moving.
unidentified		They're moving.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		What do you think about CPAC 2025?
		Are you glad that America is back on track?
		Has it been a long, tedious four years?
		Are you ready to tell the whole world that America is ready to be America again?
		We have some announcements and some news.
unidentified		There's so much going on.
		We have a very special guest who's going to be here during the conference.
		You know, kind of like a tech titan, maybe.
		Responsible for Doge.
		Yes, ladies and gentlemen, because thank God we're back to two genders.
		Yesterday with the CPAC International Summit where we had several key members coming from representing from different countries with their delegations where we passed three resolutions, Matt.
		That's right.
		Do you want to share what we did there?
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, we passed three resolutions in support with one of America's greatest ally, the state of Israel.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		We were both saddened and honored to be joined by the families of those who have friends and family members as hostages by the evil Hamas.
mercedes schlapp ▲ ● ▼		And we have two of the hostages that were freed joining us today.
unidentified		And I believe they're here, right here with us.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		God bless you.
unidentified		America stands with you.
		America stands with Israel.
		And we will ensure that Hamas is eradicated.
		We will bring peace to the Middle East under President Trump.
		And then the second resolution.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		It's hard for me to get over that because that's just thank you for being here.
		You honor us with your presence and your courage and your strength.
		And we have a president now in the United States of America that will not only help your loved ones, he's going to make it so that there aren't future victims, which we have to make sure we prevent.
		So thank you.
		Gordon Chang wrote a very important resolution.
		By the way, these resolutions were supported by all the nations that were assembled at our second annual CPAC International Summit.
		We are working not as government entities, but as entities outside government to push for these policies.
		And Gordon Chang wrote a very important resolution to combat the Chinese regime, the communist regime in China.
		And I want all of these despots and dictators to know that Donald Trump might talk to you.
		He might make you feel like you're welcome because that's part of his job.
		But in the end, we have a president that's going to stop you cold in your tracks.
		And all of these countries accepted that resolution as well.
		And perhaps my favorite resolution, I wish I had it here and could read to you on my phone, but I think I have the gist of it, which is we have a message to the globalists.
		Last year, Mercy and I stood on the stage and we said globalism, at CPAC, globalism was going to die.
		I thought that was an audacious statement.
		I thought we'd just say it.
		Right, Jerry, let's just say it.
		And then it happened.
		It's kind of amazing.
		And so our message to the globalists is, no matter whether you're at the World Economic Forum, the WHO, the EU, you can boo at any time.
		No matter who is trying to tell you as a mom or a dad, as a church member, as a teacher, as a cop, no matter who is trying to tell you what pronouns you should use, how you should pray to your God, how much you believe your country is racist, all that's over.
		And a part of that is, and this is a great way to start, we just had Natasha out here and the great pastor from Arizona who was with us on the campaign trail in Arizona.
		Part of that is, can we all just thank God for giving us a president who knows how to lead.
		And I'll expand that to a great young vice president who knows how to lead.
		All these resolutions passed.
		I don't know how CPAC became a global brand fighting the globalists with people here from like every country all over the world, but let's go with it because it seems to be working just fine.
unidentified		And I want to leave you with this.
		You are the reason because President Trump is in the White House today.
		All of you, each and every one of you, fought hard, stood up, shared this incredible, optimistic message that we need to save America and, in essence, save the world.
		So, I want to thank you all personally from the bottom of our hearts as being part of this incredible CPAC family because you all have made the difference in this past election.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		It's the truth.
unidentified		So, we honor you.
unidentified		We appreciate you so much.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		So, we've talked long enough.
unidentified		Yes.
matt schlapp ▲ ● ▼		Let's get this show on the road.
		I think you have something big that you want to announce coming up.
		Good luck.
		I'll be in the wings making sure you do a good job.
unidentified		Okay, Dad.
		All right.
		All right.
		All right, gang.
		Are you all ready?
		Okay.
		So, you know, there's this young guy, you know, with this beautiful family, with this beautiful wife that is actually just a shining star right now in American politics.
		Marine veteran, former Ohio senator, one of the coolest guys I think we have around, and one of the best communicators in this Trump administration.
		Can you please let us applaud together?
		let us welcome the greatest Vice President of America, JD Vance.
		That's how we do it.
		Steve, thanks for doing this.
victor willis ▲ ● ▼		Thank you all.
		Thank you.
		Thank you all.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
		It's great to be with you.
		It's good to see you.
unidentified		It is great to see you too.
unidentified		I mean, you've been like on a whirlwind here.
victor willis ▲ ● ▼		Yeah.
unidentified		Are you a little jet lagged or now?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		You know, yes, I am a little jet lagged.
		So we did a trip where we went to France and then to Germany and then we went to San Diego for a family wedding and then back in D.C.
		And we did all that in like seven days.
		A little jet lagged, but that's okay.
		I'm in a good place right now, Marcel.
		I got some sleep last night.
unidentified		Okay, good.
		Then we're ready.
		We're ready.
		But it's a real special day today.
		You know what today is, guys?
		It's February 20th.
		That means our 30, first 30 days.
		The happy one-month anniversary of the Trump Vance administration.
		I mean, how exciting is that?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		It's very exciting.
		It's hard to believe we've only been in office for a month because I think we've done more in a month than Biden did in about four years.
		And thank God for that.
		But, you know, the president keeps us on a pretty breakneck pace.
		He always asks, what have we done today?
		What are we going to do tomorrow?
		What are we going to do next week?
		Because I think he realizes this is a special moment in time.
		And by the way, thank you.
		Thanks to all of you for making it possible for us to do all the great work we've been doing in the administration.
		I know we wouldn't have been here without you, but I think the president is acutely aware that the American people gave us a window to save the country, and that's exactly what we're going to do.
		And thank God for that, because it's been a hell of a lot of fun the past month.
unidentified		Okay, so I don't even think we can keep track of all the things you all are doing.
		In fact, I don't even think the press can keep track of all they're doing.
		I mean, they talk about the shock and awe strategy.
		Seriously.
		So when you're looking at this list after list after list, what stands out to you?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, speaking of the press, I do think that we've had maybe more executive orders than CNN has yours tonight.
		So hello to our friends at CNN.
		I think, I actually think that their plan was they were going to go all in on anti-Trump and hope that he could save CNN in the same way that he did, frankly, in 2017, because nobody really watched the network until he became president in 2017.
		But that's maybe the one thing I think a president has been unable to do, unable to save CNN's ratings over the last few months.
		But look, I think that what the president has tried to do is recognize that we have a historical mandate on a few issues.
		We have to secure the southern border, and thanks to his actions, border crossings are down well over 90 percent, and we're just getting started.
		I think he recognizes that we have to really unlock the engine of American growth.
		We've got to get back to having a growing economy that creates good jobs and high wages for the American people.
		And a lot of that goes back to drill, baby, drill.
		We've done more on energy under President Trump's leadership than I think any administration in history.
		And that's not an exaggeration.
		And of course, we're going to do more.
		And then I think the third thing that he's tried to do, of course, with the help of Elon and all the great folks at Doge, is ask, what are we doing with all of the American taxpayers' money and why are we wasting so much of it on garbage that the American people either aren't aware that we're spending it on or don't want to be spending it on in the first place?
		Like, for example, the stuff that we've figured out, Mercedes, is unbelievable.
		Why are we spending money on progressive modern art projects centered around toilets in Afghanistan?
		That's actually something that your tax dollars were funding until very recently.
		And I think all of us are sitting around and asking, what the hell have we been doing with the American people's money for the last four years?
		Let's turn off the spigot and spend the American people's tax money on the American people's priority.
		And that's, of course, been a big focus of the administration, too.
unidentified		Let's dig deeper into the immigration issue.
		Sure.
		We've seen, and you've met many of the victims, people who have family members who have died, been tragically, tragically murdered.
		Those angel families in the hands of these criminal illegal aliens.
		Sure.
		What's your message to these families?
		And then what is your message to these horrific drug cartels and human traffickers who have preyed on the most vulnerable in the world?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, our message to the drug traffickers is get the hell out of our country.
		Your free ride is over because President Trump is back in the Oval Office.
		That is you're not welcome.
		You were never welcome, according to the American people, but unfortunately you had President Joe Biden who allowed you to run free over the United States of America and Donald Trump has said, you're terrorist organizations, we're going to go after you, we're going to wage war on you, and certainly we want you out of the United States of America, and that's an important message, of course.
		But our message, and you know this, Mercedes, our message to the families is President Trump cares about you.
		He thinks that it's disgraceful what your own government let happen to your children, to your grandchildren, and it's got to stop.
		And of course, we mourn with people, we pray for people, but we're also asking as their government, why did this happen to your child in the first place?
		And the answer is that under Joe Biden, your government didn't do its job.
		Under Donald Trump, it is.
		Thank God for that.
unidentified		On the economy, and I'm getting this question all the time.
		You know, it's this question of affordability, right?
		a lot of stress on our families, something that I think Joe Biden could not manage in terms of really helping lower that cost of living and making things just simply more affordable.
		Sure.
		We talked about energy independence being a critical component of this, of ensuring that we unleash this economic prosperity.
		What more needs to be done?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, so one of the first interviews I did, it was I think six or seven days after the inauguration, and somebody asked me, well, it's been six days.
		What have you got done to fix the inflation crisis created by Joe Biden?
		I'm like, well, first of all, it's been six days.
		We've done a lot in six days, but it's going to take some time to fix what Joe Biden broke over four years.
		And we know it is easy, unfortunately, to burn the house down.
		It takes a little bit of time to build it back up.
		And here's what we have to do.
		Because look, the fundamental goal of our immigration policy, of our border policy, of Doge saving taxpayer money, the fundamental goal is we want your children and grandchildren to be able to raise a family in security and comfort in the country that we all love.
		That is the whole goal of President Trump's agenda.
		Like safety and prosperity, right?
		It's pretty common sense stuff.
		And we know that to do that, we have to, first of all, unleash American energy.
		Now, why is that so important?
		Because look, if, you know, we all know grocery prices got too high under Joe Biden's leadership.
		Well, one of the main drivers of groceries is energy.
		Because if the farmers are paying more for energy, then we're all paying more for what the farmers grow.
		And if the truck drivers who are delivering the groceries are paying more for fuel, then we're all paying more for what the truck drivers are delivering to the grocery store.
		If we unleash American energy, that will do more than anything to drive down the costs for the American people.
		The second thing, Mercedes, is we have got to stop spending the American people's money on garbage.
		Every dollar, every dollar that we take in and spend, you have to pay for, either through taxes or through inflation.
		And if we spend the American people's money more wisely, if we stop taxing and spending the American people to death, that's also going to bring relief to all of the pricing pressures that are out there.
		We're going to make it affordable to live in this country again.
		That's our mandate.
		That's our goal.
		And you're right.
		There's a lot more that we can do, but I think we've got a pretty good start after 30 days.
unidentified		We've got a pretty good start, but we've got this big, beautiful one-bill budget reconciliation scenario.
unidentified		How is that working?
mercedes schlapp ▲ ● ▼		What are the dynamics that are happening right now in Congress and what the administration is doing to ensure that a lot of what the president is wanting to do in terms of really pushing forward with economic prosperity and his tax relief initiatives gets done through these billions?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, it's really important.
		So the Senate obviously has its own approach.
		And the President has been very clear that his preference is to put everything in one bill.
		And part of that is just simple legislative strategy.
		I think the President has learned a lot about how D.C. works.
		And I actually talked to the President about this yesterday, and he said to me, look, it's very rare that you can get two reconciliation bills done in one Congress, which is why he thinks we've got to do a lot with that one big, beautiful bill, that first reconciliation package that we're going to get through the House and the Senate.
		It's going well.
		It's early, right?
		This stuff takes time to put together.
		I think, you know, if you had a record-paced reconciliation bill, we would get this thing done in May or in June.
		I think we're on track to do that.
		But we've got to do some basic things.
		Mercedes.
		One, like I said, we've got to continue to unleash American energy.
		That's part of the reconciliation bill.
		We've got to make sure that other countries stop taking advantage of us.
		That's a big part of President Trump's tariff policy: we've got to stop being taken advantage of.
		You know, of course, we want to make the President Trump tax cuts permanent and extend them into the future.
		We want no taxes on tips.
		We've got to do some of the things we talked about during the campaign.
		That's got to be part of it.
		And then finally, and this is really important, everything the president has done on the border, we have got to empower him to do it, not just for a month, but for the next four years.
		And we've got to hire more border patrol agents.
		We've got to give Tom Homan and Stephen Miller and Chrissy Noam the resources they need to secure the border.
		And just not to return to the border, but I think so many of our issues come back to the border.
		Because if you take 30, 40 million illegal aliens, you take Medicare fraud, social security fraud, why are we taking the people's social security payments and giving it to illegal aliens?
		We know that's happening in the United States of America today.
		We've got to stop it.
		If you get control of the border, Mercedes, you do more to control the fiscal problem, the financial problems that we have in this country than almost anything.
		Get illegal aliens out of our country, make sure American tax dollars go to American people.
		That is how you solve the fiscal crisis in the United States of America.
unidentified		Shifting to your incredible speech at the Munich conference.
		Did you all watch that?
		I don't know.
		I think they're not.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		A lot of you guys liked it.
		Not everybody liked it.
		You guys liked it.
		Not everybody liked it.
unidentified		Okay. Okay.
unidentified		All to...
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		I'll take a standing ovation for a speech I already gave.
unidentified		Yeah, I was going to say, here's your speech, just say it again.
		All right.
		But it was fascinating because there was obviously some of these European leaders that, you know, they were a little uptight about it.
		It stressed them out just a little bit.
		A little bit.
		But you talked about the greatest threats in Europe.
		Yeah.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		So, look, the greatest threat in Europe, and I'd say it was the greatest threat in the United States until about 30 days ago, is that you've had the leaders of the West decide that they should send millions and millions of unvetted foreign migrants into their countries.
		That is the biggest threat to Europe.
		And frankly, it remains, by the way, the biggest threat to the United States because, yes, we've got four years of President Trump's leadership, but I guarantee you, if the Democrats ever get power again, they're going to try to do it again.
		We cannot rebuild Western civilization.
		We cannot rebuild the United States of America or Europe by letting millions and millions of unvetted illegal migrants come into our country.
		It has to stop.
		Thank God it stopped here, but it's got to stop there.
		And a related issue, Mercedes, is you can't just stop it.
		You have to allow European peoples, and of course the American people too, to raise issues about it.
unidentified		You have to allow free speech to debate this stuff.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		You have to stop doing things to the populations of the world.
		You've got to give the populations of the world the opportunity to speak up and say, no more of this BS.
		We want borders.
		We want sovereignty.
		We want to be able to speak our own mind in our own country.
		And I guarantee you, if we don't allow free speech, and of course, the Biden administration, I made this point, Mercedes, the Biden administration did more to destroy free speech, not just in the United States, but also in Europe, than any administration in American history.
		I'm not even blaming the Europeans.
		I'm actually saying you follow the lead of Joe Biden into censorship and mass migration.
		Follow the lead of Donald J. Trump, and that's free speech, borders, and sovereignty.
unidentified		That is the future for our shared civilization.
mercedes schlapp ▲ ● ▼		And I will tell you something that is really truly remarkable that's happening at CPAC is, and we had our second CPAC international summit yesterday.
unidentified		We have many of these European conservative European leaders with us today, where we stand in solidarity because they have an opportunity to basically make Europe great again, make Asia great again, make Latin America great again.
		And so, in essence, I think your message was very well received by many of those conservative leaders across the globe.
		But what does this mean with the U.S., now that, you know, in giving that speech, what does this mean with the U.S.'s relationship with Europe?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, look, obviously, we're going to continue to have important alliances with Europe, but I really do think the strength of those alliances is going to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction.
		Think about this.
		Germany's entire defense is subsidized by the American taxpayer.
		There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany today.
		Do you think that the American taxpayer is going to stand for that if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet?
		Of course they're not.
		So the point that I try to make to our European friends, and I think that they're our friends, I believe that.
		I know President Trump does, is that friendship is based on shared values.
		You do not have shared values if you're jailing people for saying we should close down our border.
		You don't have shared values if you cancel elections because you don't like the result, and that happened in Romania.
		You do not have shared values if you're so afraid of your own people that you silence them and shut them up.
		So let's have shared values.
		Let's defend democracy.
		Let's have free expression, not just in the United States, but all over the Western world.
		That is the path to strong alliances in Europe.
unidentified		We had Ambassador Rick Riddell with us yesterday.
		He'll be on the CPAC stage during these conferences.
		He has like three jobs or four or five.
		But let me ask you this: where are we on our basically the status of the Russia-Ukraine moving forward in terms of these negotiations in bringing peace to this endless war?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		You know, it's early, and I think what President Trump, what makes him such an effective negotiator, I've seen this in private, is that he doesn't take anything off the table.
		When he walks into negotiation, he says everything is on the table.
		And of course, that makes the heads explode in the American media because they say, why are you talking to Russia?
		Well, how are you going to end the war unless you're talking to Russia?
		You've got to talk to everybody involved in the fighting if you actually want to bring the conflict to a close.
		And I know the president does.
		But I'll tell you the goals that animate President Trump's policy.
		It's really simple.
		He wants the killing to stop.
		He wants to bring lasting peace to Europe.
		He doesn't just want to stop it now and have the war restart a month from now.
		He wants to bring lasting peace to Europe because the president believes this and he's absolutely right.
		Peace is in the interest of Russia.
		It's in the interest of Ukraine.
		It's in the interest of Europe.
		But most importantly, peace is in the interest of the American people, and he's going to fight for it for the remainder of his administration.
		Wherever war breaks out, he's going to be the president of peace.
		Now, he, of course, is a very good negotiator, a very good businessman.
		He recognizes that a lot of these issues are tough.
		It's going to take a smart statesman to figure this stuff out, but we've got that in the White House.
		And I really believe that we're in the cusp of peace in Europe for the first time in three years because we have leadership from the Oval Office, and we haven't had it in four years in this country.
unidentified		Matt and I mentioned this right when we started the conference.
mercedes schlapp ▲ ● ▼		We're honored by the presence of two hostages that were freed after the Hamas atrocity, the tragedy that we've seen happen.
unidentified		And we have several of the family members as well who still, they're there, where their loved ones are still being detained by Hamas.
unidentified		What is your message to these hostage families and these survivors?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Our message is that President Trump loves you.
		He hasn't forgotten your loved ones, and he's going to fight every single day to bring them home.
		That is exactly what he's been doing, and that's what he'll keep on doing.
		I was actually talking with one of my best friends about this a couple of days ago.
unidentified		Can I be your best friend too?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Yes.
unidentified		I think we all want to be your best friend, right?
unidentified		Okay, okay.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		But I was talking with him and he was asking me, he was like, well, I don't understand why was Biden unable to do this.
		And then like the minute that Donald Trump won, we started to make progress in bringing the hostages home.
		And I said, man, it's just a question of leadership.
		You actually need a president who is willing to pick up the phone and say, you've got to bring these people home.
		No, no, no, no.
		We're not focused on that crap right now.
		We're focused on bringing hostages home.
		And then when the negotiations hit a wall, because they always do, you need a president who picks up the phone and says, cut this crap out.
		We've got to make progress and you've got to keep that pace going.
		It's leadership.
		It really is.
		And I saw it behind the scenes.
		And what the president did is he empowered in particular, because remember, this was before we were inaugurated.
		This is before we had our great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, or any of the great people around us.
		You know, the president sent his dear friend, and he's become my dear friend, Steve Witkoff, as an emissary of the president of the United States.
		And he said, Steve, you speak for me, get it done, and if there are problems, pick up the phone and call me.
		Steve Witkoff with the president's leadership got it done and it's amazing.
		And of course, we still got work to do.
		We've got to finish the process, but I really believe the president is as committed to this as any American leader in my lifetime.
		We're going to keep on fighting for it.
unidentified		One of the issues that's central to the CPAC community is the issue of pro-life.
		Of course.
		And what is the administration going to do to defend the unborn, to provide support for those mothers, those fathers that choose life?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Sure.
		Well, you know, one of the things, of course, the president got done during the first term, and I think that it's why he is accurately called the most pro-life president in American history, is he finally made it possible for the will of the people to speak on the life issue.
		And that was the Dobbs decision.
		What that did is it gave the abortion question back to the people.
		It took it out of the hands of unelected bureaucrats and unelected judges and gave it back to the people.
		And I think the most important thing that we can do, and as you know, Mercedes, I'm very pro-life.
		I'm a devout Christian, is that we have got to persuade our fellow Americans because now we've got the power.
		We've got the power of persuasion.
		We've got to persuade our fellow citizens that unborn life is worthy of protecting.
		It is sacred in the eyes of God, and it should be sacred in the eyes of man too.
		And we have to pick up the torch and fight for that every single day.
		And I know you guys are up to the task.
		I am too.
		And I think on the administration side, what the president has said, and it's been consistent, it's going to be consistent in the rhetoric and in the policy, is we believe in the Trump administration that babies are good, that families are good, and we want to make it easier for young moms and young dads to choose life, to start families, and to bring new life into the world.
		That's the whole point of our policy.
		Now, some of that, of course, is supporting our great crisis pregnancy centers at the moment of these important health care decisions, encouraging young women to choose life at that important moment of choice.
		Some of that is bringing costs down so that young moms and dads don't look to the future and a new baby and say, how can I afford this?
		And if they're able to actually afford to raise a family, maybe they'll start thinking of babies as the blessings that we all know that they are.
		And I think fundamentally this is going to take a lot of leadership from the president on down, but from every single person in this room, we have got to persuade our fellow citizens to stop thinking about babies as inconveniences to be discarded.
		We've got to start thinking of them as blessings to cherish.
		And that's exactly what I promised to do.
unidentified		So now we're going to get personal.
		This is so fun.
		Your faith.
victor willis ▲ ● ▼		Yep.
unidentified		Why is it so important to you?
		What does it mean to you?
		Tell us why, when you go every single day to work, how faith is a part of who you are?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, I mean, first is I believe the fundamental tenet of the Christian faith, it's not just a set of good moral principles, though it is that.
		I think the fundamental tenet of our faith is that the Son of God became man, he died, and he raised himself from the dead.
		That is the fundamental tenet of the Christian faith, and I think so much flows from that.
		And I think one lesson that flows from that is that we shouldn't fear death.
		Of course, death is a very bad thing, but there are much more terrible things than just losing one's life, and importantly, you could lose one's soul.
		And I think whether it's fighting for the unborn or fighting for peace and security for our citizens, I want us to be the kind of society where my kids can grow up to be virtuous young people, can be good young Christians, of course, because that's what I'm trying to raise them to be.
		And that's what our public policy is trying to do.
		Creating the space where moms and dads can raise their children in their faith to become good young people who believe the things that I do.
		That is what I'm trying to create, is the space for you, of course, to raise your children as you see fit, but the space for me to raise my kids to be the kind of young people that I think they ought to be.
		And the other thing that I take from it, Mercedes, is if you look at the long history of the Christian faith, we've been around for about 2,000 years now, give or take a few years, and there have been really dark times in the history of the Christian faith.
		There have been really good times in the history of the Christian faith.
		And I just try to remind myself that we put our faith in God above.
		We put our faith in the grace of God.
		And we try the best to do his will.
		And we don't worry so much about whether we're going to have earthly rewards.
		We worry about whether we're doing right by God Almighty above.
		That's what I try to do, and that's how I try to run my life in public.
unidentified		You mentioned raising these children into good people and also into good citizens that can contribute to society and to the world.
		We had so many young people come out and support Donald Trump and JD Vance this past election.
		So what is your message?
		And I really, what is your message to the young men?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		You know, I guess my message to young people generally is we're trying to make your life better.
		And that is the simple thrust of President Trump's policy is we want you to be able to buy a home.
		We want you to be able to work a good job.
		We want you to be able to raise your kids, like I said, according to the values that you believe in.
		And we want you to be able to build a nice life in this country that all of us love.
		That is what we're trying to do.
		And, you know, you guys, more than anybody, more than me, I'm talking about people under the age of 30 in particular, you guys are going to have to deal with the consequences of good policy or of bad policy for much longer than the rest of us.
		And I just, I want you guys to think about the future and ask yourself, do you want safe communities?
		Do you want a prosperous life?
		Do you want to be able to work a good job?
		Or do you want that job shipped off to China or somewhere else?
		We're fighting for you every single day.
		We want you to help fight for us because we've got to win.
		Not just the policy battles of the next couple of months.
		We've got to win the midterm elections in a couple of years.
		We need you.
		We recognize that we need you and we're fighting for you every single day.
		And I think, you know, you asked me, my message to young men is I think that our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge.
		You should try to cast aside your family.
		You should try to suppress what makes you a young man in the first place.
		And I think that my message to young men is don't allow this broken culture to send you a message that you're a bad person because you're a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends, or because you're competitive.
		It's our, like, our message, the cultural message, and I think the president's and mine is the exact opposite, but our cultural message is I think that it wants to turn everybody in whether male or female.
		into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same, and act the same.
		We actually think God made male and female for a purpose, and we want you guys to thrive as young men and as young women, and we're going to help with our public policy to make it possible to do that.
		And by the way, I actually think, Mercedes, this is the thing that President Trump, this is why the media went after him so hard is because, you know, I think about like what is the essence of masculinity, you could answer this in so many different ways, but when I think about me and my guy friends, we really like to tell jokes to one another.
		Like we like to laugh.
		You think of all the movies that were really popular.
unidentified		Are you saying you're pretty funny?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		I try to be.
unidentified		Okay, President Trump, who's funnier?
unidentified		Who's funnier?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		President Trump.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's be honest.
unidentified		There you go.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		He's got the best sense of humor of any American political figure.
		But I think this is why young men in particular are so, you know, they're so inspired by President Trump, is because he doesn't allow the media to tell him he can't make a joke or he can't have an original thought.
		President Trump just says what's on his mind.
		That's a damn good thing, and it's a good example to set for young men in American culture.
unidentified		You know, I always tell my five daughters, I don't have any sons, but Matt and I, we have five beautiful daughters, and I always say, you know, the most important decision you'll ever make is who you marry.
		That's right.
		Always who you marry.
		And you made a very important decision in marrying Usha.
		I did.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		I did.
		I married up.
		I married up.
unidentified		She is a beautiful second lady.
unidentified		And I want to know, what is the best advice Usha has given you?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, one.
unidentified		This is so fun.
unidentified		Okay.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		This is going to be very personal.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		One piece of advice she gave me like a week ago was: you should be nicer on social media.
unidentified		I don't know that I'll take that advice.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Some advice is good.
		Some advice is, you know, it can be good, but you don't have to always take it.
		You sound like my husband.
		The best advice Usha ever gave me when it comes, I mean, she gave me so many good life advices or pieces of advice, but the best advice she gave me when it came to politics is don't let them filter you.
		And in politics, you know, you've got consultants and you've got media professionals, you've got pollsters, you've got a lot of people who try to tell you what to say or how to behave or what to do.
		And Usha just said, just be yourself, be authentic, go out there and say what's actually on your mind, maybe a little nicer from time to time.
		But I think that's the best advice that she gave me.
		And that's why we take our kids everywhere.
		And that's why I'm not afraid to make a joke on social media, even if it's sometimes a dad joke.
		I forgive, you know, forgive me, all of you who don't like dad jokes, but you just got to be yourself.
		And I think that's President Trump's superpower in American politics.
		And that's probably the best advice Usha ever gave me, at least on politics.
unidentified		Okay, last question.
unidentified		What inspires you every day?
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, I mean, one is my family, right?
		I mean, I'm blessed to have a seven-year-old, a five-year-old, and a three-year-old.
		And I can't help but see the country through their eyes.
		And when we were on the campaign in particular, and we would take our kids with us, all of my kids, when we were about to land in some new place, you know, they'd all rush to the window of the plane and they'd look out and they'd say, oh, dad, this looks so cool.
		Like, you know, the beauty of the Arizona cactuses and Arizona deserts.
		Or, you know, we'd be in Texas for a fundraiser.
		They'd be like, oh, my God, like, look at just all of that open space, right?
		Or we'd be in North Carolina and say, oh, look how beautiful the green mountains, right?
		This idea of these beautiful green mountains of Appalachian, North Carolina.
		We love North Carolina.
		And I guess what inspires me is you can't help but be hopeful and energetic and optimistic about this country when you see it through the eyes of a child.
		So I hope I never lose that perspective because it does inspire me every day.
unidentified		Well, Mr. Vice President, you inspire us every day.
		We are praying for you.
		We are praying for your family.

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